Solar park Cheyssieu

Project co-financed by the European Union
The views and opinions expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or CINEA. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible.
To find out more, visit the French Government website.

The project in brief

An agrivoltaic project on apple trees is currently being developed in the commune of Cheyssieu. The project is run by the site's owner/farmers and BayWa r.e., in close collaboration with the Municipality, the community of communes Entre Bièvre et Rhône, the departmental council of Isère and the Chambers of Agriculture of Isère and Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes.

With a capacity of 1 MWp, the Cheyssieu agrivoltaic project is supported and monitored by the European LIFE program, which aims to help transform the European Union into a climate-neutral and resilient society. Its aim is to generate concrete agricultural results on a small scale, enabling informed decisions to be made in the future about the development of the "agrivoltaics" solution on a larger scale.

The fruit of 3 years of discussion with the local community, this project was submitted in May 2024 and is now in the hands of the relevant authorities. It has been co-constructed with a number of public players in a Working Group. To find out more, visit BayWa r.e.'s EU LIFE projects page.

Project overview

Project location
The Louze plateau is an important arboricultural region (apples, apricots, peaches...), regularly confronted with climatic episodes significantly affecting production, such as hail or extreme temperatures.
The Cheyssieu agrivoltaic project is designed to mitigate climate change affecting crops. It is located in the south-west of the commune, on temporarily unused agricultural land and/or former apple orchards that have been converted to cereal crops. This project will enable the entire plot to be returned to its historic arboricultural vocation.
Key data
- Site area: 2.8 ha
- Installed capacity: 0.979 kWp
- Equivalent to the electricity consumption of: 300 households (3 out of 5 Cheyssinois households)

What is an Agri-PV project?

Agrivoltaics is a method of coupling agricultural production, the main activity of the land, with secondary energy production: Article 54 of Law no. 2023-175 of March 10, 2023 on the acceleration of renewable energy production is very clear on this point. It should be clearly distinguished from ground-mounted photovoltaics.

Agrivoltaics is one of the few existing solutions for adapting the agricultural sector to climate change, and thus ensuring our long-term food sovereignty. The complementary production of low-carbon, renewable energy optimizes land use (dual use) and contributes to the host region's energy transition.

How it works
For your information, the photo below, taken at the Gelsdorf agrivoltaic park in Germany, developed and built by BayWa r.e., is purely for illustrative and educational purposes. Although similar in technology, the metal structures of the Gelsdorf park are different from those envisaged for the Cheyssieu project.
The benefits
The expected benefits for the part of the orchard equipped with "agrivoltaics" are manifold:
- Protect crops from climatic hazards (hail, late frost, strong winds, scorching) and thus secure production over the long term, with a solution adapted to climate change;
- Reduce disease pressure on fruit, by protecting it more effectively from humidity;
- Reduce and optimize water consumption, by reducing the natural evapotranspiration of apple trees;
- Reduce the volume of waste generated by apple production, by providing a sustainable alternative to the use of anti-hail nets;
- Improve the farmer's working conditions, by providing shade and coolness during the harvest, and eliminating tedious and non-productive tasks (e.g. repositioning nets after strong winds).

What's the status of the Cheyssieu agrivoltaic project?

Before submitting a building permit application (2^nd quarter 2024), the French government has been asked to carry out an initial verification of any specific environmental measures to be integrated into the project.

To date, the project plans to position semi-transparent solar panels (allowing the light needed by the fruit to pass through) on around 1.5 hectares of apple trees to be planted, and to monitor the quality of agricultural production for several years, in comparison with an adjacent control plot planted simultaneously. Various technical choices or parameters linked to farm management will be tested: different photovoltaic module transparencies, different apple varieties, possibly different treatments (if production is good, the project will aim to reduce the use of inputs as much as possible, without affecting the fruit's taste quality).

The Working Group is currently hard at work adjusting the agricultural project and its follow-up.

April 2022

Initial discussions between BayWa r.e. and the Chamber of Agriculture on the "agrivoltaic pilot project on apple trees"

March 2023

Pre-selection of BayWa r.e.'s agrivoltaic project by the European Commission for its LIFE climate change adaptation program

April to July 2023

Meeting with owners/operators and selection of the Cheyssieu site

August to September 2023

Creation and launch of a working group including stakeholders involved in defining the local agrivoltaics of tomorrow

2024

Development, construction, apple tree planting and park commissioning

Ongoing information and consultation

Project stakeholders
The project is steered by a Working Group (WG) and 4 thematic sub-Working Groups (sGT) created on 19/09/2023, bringing together local players. The WG meets at least once every six months; work in the sub-working groups takes place on a more regular basis.
External communication
A sub-working group dedicated to external communication in operation since November 29, 2023
BayWa r.e. is committed to developing this agrivoltaic project transparently and in close collaboration with local stakeholders. An external communications working group meets on an ad hoc basis at every stage of the project's life to inform and publicize the project to the general public.
This WG discusses and implements communication initiatives such as :
- Articles in the municipal newsletter
- Participation in local events to raise awareness of renewable energies
- Updating the website
- Drafting and distribution of paper newsletters...
Environment Week
Environment Week - April 04, 2024
On the occasion of Environment Week, BayWa r.e. was invited by the commune and the organizing association (Centre Social Oviv') to present the project to the general public. Participants were able to ask questions about the project live (to BayWa r.e., to the farmer) before wandering freely around the room, transformed for the occasion into a small exhibition (information panels, model...).
This was followed by an EnR quiz, to learn a little more about the project and agrivoltaics in general. The discussions ended with a friendly drink.
Prenez la clé des Champs
Prenez la clé des Champs - May 04 & 05, 2024
At the event organized by the Clé des Champs farmers, partners in the agrivoltaic project in Cheyssieu, posters of the PommePV Cheyssieu project were presented to participants. The BayWa r.e. project manager was on hand to answer questions and chat with the Cheyssinois in attendance!
Meeting of local associations
Meeting with the Association Communale de Chasse Agréée Diane de Louze - May 24, 2024
BayWa r.e. and the farmer-owner of the site met with the local hunters.
Objective: present the project and begin to identify / manage in an acceptable way future interactions between agrivoltaic and hunting uses of the land. Some great ideas emerged on the spot.
A BayWa r.e. presentation at the Annual General Meeting will be scheduled at a later date to involve as many ACCA members as possible. More details to come!
Visit to the Brumath agrivoltaic site
Visit to Brumath agrivoltaic site - May 28, 2024
The Cheyssinois farmers and BayWa r.e. project manager visited a relatively similar agrivoltaic installation (although the shades are lower, less widely spaced and comprise only one type of semi-transparent panel, as it is a site with raspberry bushes), commissioned on March 2024.
The visit provided an opportunity to gain a better understanding of the project's future visual appearance, and to ask questions of the raspberry growers.